Longshoring activity at the Port of Montreal is set to grind to a halt as an employers’ group locks out 1,200 union members.

Workers are locked out at Canada’s two biggest ports on Monday, after Montreal longshore employees rejected a contract with their employers group on Sunday night. Dock workers at British Columbia’s ports, including Vancouver, have been locked out since last Monday as employers push them to approve to a new collective agreement.

The Montreal Longshoremen's Union rejected a final offer made for a new labour contract, leading to a lockout being declared, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) and the union said on Sunday.

This lockout affects not only the 1,200 longshoremen directly impacted by the work stoppage, but it also impacts over 10,000 workers in the logistics sector, from trucking and railway employees to maritime agents and pilots.

Members of the union representing about 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal rejected by 99.7 per cent the offer proposed by the employer on Sunday, making a lockout likely. A spokesperson for the Canadian Union of Public Employees said 1,086 of its 1,197 members exercised their right to vote following a general meeting on Sunday.

The dispute exacerbates the disruption to trade in Canada as a lockout at ports along the West Coast continues.